What does it really mean to be pro-life?

Over the next few months, I’m sure we’re going to be hearing a lot about pro-life, pro-choice, and everything in between.

I know everyone has their own take on what those terms mean, but today I want to share what I believe it means to be truly pro-life. This list is not in any order and it is certainly not comprehensive…but these are all factors I believe should be included in a pro-life stance.

It means making sure that all people have access to affordable and adequate medical care–especially, but not limited to, pregnant individuals and their babies.

It means ensuring affordable and adequate medical care after birth for parents and children.

It means employees are paid living wages so that they can provide for their families.

It involves working with underserved communities to help them have access to fresh foods and vegetables so that they can rely less on heavily processed food. That includes teaching them how to use those fruits and vegetables.

It includes comprehensive sex ed–not just abstinence-focused coercive programs. Abstinence is one aspect of sex ed, but it is not the only one.

It means helping women have access to a variety of birth control methods, based on decisions made by them in conjunction with their partner and their doctor.

It means giving doctors the tools they need to meet the medical needs of their pregnant patients–not interfering with the care they need to provide. That includes allowing doctors to perform abortions when needed without having to worry about losing their licenses and / or going to jail.

It includes paid family leave so that new parents can spend important time with their baby after birth, bonding with them and learning how to live together as a new family.

It means that mental health care is also considered an essential component of medical care.

It means caring for the whole person–before birth and after birth.

Unfortunately, far too often it seems that people who loudly proclaim they are pro-life are only pro-life before birth. After birth, it’s hands-off…and good luck! They are also often strong advocates of capital punishment…a position that seems at odds with their staunch and loud voices demanding protection for a fetus before it is born.

So let’s have some honest discussions about what pro-life really means. Yes, there are going to be differing opinions, but if we really want to create a pro-life society, then we need to work together to figure out how to help families deal with life once it has been born, not just before.

What century am I in?

Sometimes I feel like I’m no longer living in the 21st century!

I grew up believing that scientists were people who studied our world to find out more about it and to help us live wisely in it.

I grew up believing that libraries were important parts of our communities…places where we could go to learn and to expand our minds.

I grew up believing that the goal of education was to help us learn how to think creatively and expansively…to not put ourselves in little boxes.

I grew up believing that the purpose of religion was to help us believe in something bigger than ourselves, regardless of whether we named it Divine Love, God, Allah, or something else. And I also believed that the main tenet of religion was to love God and each other with all our being.

But now?

I hear people saying that scientists can’t be believed…that they are just looking for things that “prove” what they already believe.

Libraries and librarians are being attacked for having books that some person may not agree with or may not want their child to read. Instead of being seen as people and places that can help us grow, they are seen by far too many as some kind of “evil” places and people.

Education has forced teachers to often “teach to the test” instead of helping children learn how to think. And educators are also under attack when exposing students to ideas they may not have thought of.

And instead of encouraging us to love others, far too often religion is now being used to demand adherence to a specific way of understanding God while demonizing any other understanding.

It feels like I’m living in a world that is going backwards…back to a time when men wanted women to be kept barefoot and pregnant…when we refused to acknowledge diversity–of race, gender, sexuality…when science and religion were enemies…when education was limited to the few “elites” and was used to support a specific world view…when superstition held sway.

I don’t want to live in that world! And so I’m going to continue to advocate for a world that allows–and encourages–each of us to live to our full potential…a world that understands that there is much we do not yet comprehend about our planet…a world in which we willingly share with each other so that none are left hungry or unhoused or fearful of violence.

Enough is enough!

I have supported–and will continue to support–Israel’s right to exist without fear of constant attacks.

However, I cannot support the current Israeli government and their actions towards the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Have Netanyahu and his supporters forgotten their own history? of how in many places in the 20th century Jews were herded into smaller and smaller enclaves? deprived of medical care and food? killed without caring if they were men, women, or children? Have they forgotten how Jews were considered “subhuman”?

It is appalling to see so many of those same tactics now being used by the Israeli government towards the people of Gaza.

It is appalling to see the callous disregard for the lives of the innocents who are caught in the crossfire.

It is appalling to see the refusal to allow humanitarian aid to reach those in desperate need–and aid workers killed, despite having coordinated with the Israeli forces to be in “safe” zones.

It is appalling to see the heartbreak of parents trying desperately to keep their children alive and safe.

And I am appalled that in light of all of this, my government is still considering selling more fighter jets to Israel.

I understand that this sale is part of a longstanding commitment to Israel’s security…that there are other entities in the area that continue to vow the destruction of Israel. And I understand that many of these sales were approved years before this current conflict.

But I also believe that it is time–past time–to call the Israeli government to accountability.

It is time–past time–to say “Enough is enough!”

This is not an April Fools Day joke…

The upcoming election in the United States is probably one of the most important elections that we have ever had…and I believe the future of our country is at stake.

I wish I could say that that comment was an April Fools Day joke–but it isn’t.

There is a stark contrast between not just the two primary candidates but also between the two major political party platforms…a contrast that I am seeing in many places around the world.

Do we want to be a country that lives in fear…fear of the “other”…afraid of our diversity? Ruled by a wanna-be dictator and his cronies who believe that the rule of law does not apply to them? A country torn by violence? That wants to isolate ourselves from anyone and anything that challenges our world view? A country that demands that only one form of one religion be acceptable? That says that the government can control women’s bodies?

Or do we want to be a country that rejoices in our diversity? That believes that all citizens are alike under the law? A country that sees our interconnectedness with others in the world and our need to work together for the good of all and a survivable future for the planet?

No one party or individual is perfect. Because we are human beings, we have flaws–and those flaws are reflected in our political system. But those flaws can either be magnified or diminished by the choices we make.

We are at a crossroads in the United States. We still have an opportunity to choose the direction we will go. I pray we choose wisely, not just for ourselves but for our children and grandchildren.

Don’t like drag? Are you sure?

I wasn’t going to write another post this week…at least not this early. But then I saw the news story that a public library received a bomb threat and had to be evacuated because there was going to be a story time presented by a drag queen. A bomb threat…against a children’s activity.

Okay, I understand that the words “drag queen” are loaded words for some. And I understand that many feel that drag shows are somehow “grooming” children into the “gay lifestyle” (whatever that is!).

But drag has been around for a long, long time!

Let’s go back to Elizabethan times (17th century). Female roles were taken by men–who had to dress in women’s clothes for their roles. So many of Shakespeare’s iconic female roles were played by men in drag.

Or let’s go to the late 19th century. A popular play from that time is “The Importance of Being Earnest”–in which one of the major characters (Lady Bracknell) is often played by a man…in drag. An early drag queen in the United States was a former slave, William Dorsey Swann, who hosted dances at his Washington, D.C. home in 1882.

What about the 20th century? Vaudeville hosted some incredibly popular drag queens, including one Julian Eltinge.

“Drag” is not limited to men playing women’s roles–it also includes the reverse (women playing men’s roles). Maybe not as common, but still part of the genre.

More recently, there have been some very popular TV shows and movies starring men and women in clothing often considered to be drag…

• Flip Wilson, who created the role of Geraldine Jones
• Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in Some Like It Hot
• Katherine Hepburn in Sylvia Scarlett
• Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari in “Bosom Buddies” (TV show from 1980-82)
• Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie
• Julie Andrews in Victor Victoria
• Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire
• Barbara Streisand in Yentl
• Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor
• Milton Berle and Bob Hope

The library wasn’t presenting an inappropriate drag show for children. They were offering a chance for children to hear stories read by someone in a costume–and we seem to be fine with people (i.e., men) dressed in other costumes to read to children. Why are we so scared of the same thing when it has the word “drag” connected with it?

And if drag is so bad, why did we so much enjoy the movies and characters listed above?